Skaer-Tactics: Fore! Schedule Time to Participate

If you play golf as poorly as I do, you stay away from golf tournaments. No need to embarrass myself. As the saying goes, “Momma did not raise no fool.”

There are exceptions to this unwritten golf rule, especially when it comes time for the Jedd Paup Memorial Golf Tournament, being held this year on September 24 in York, Pa. Proceeds from the event go into the Jedd Paup Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is spearheaded by Greg Lauer of Spangler and Boyer Mechanical Inc., York, Pa. The fund awards scholarships to York, Pa., county residents who attend an HVACR or plumbing program at any one of the three nearby trade schools: Pennsylvania School of Technology, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, and YTI Career Institute.

The fund is named after the project manager at Spangler and Boyer Mechanical, who tragically passed away at age 49 in June 2004. According to Lauer, Paup would go out of his way to help “the young ones” – and that would include techs from other companies “if they were in a jam.”

“Our goal is to provide as many scholarships as possible to students entering into HVAC/ plumbing courses,” said Lauer. “The heating and air conditioning trade is experiencing a severe decline of technicians and what does this mean to you? Higher service rates and longer waits for service. We are trying to help curb this problem by making these scholarships available to York County residents seeking secondary education at three possible schools in Pennsylvania.”

Thinking of Paup, Lauer added, “Jedd really enjoyed two things: working in the field and golf. So we all wanted to honor his memory with something fitting. We are trying to start the seeds for future techs, something Jedd would appreciate.”

Lauer is looking to have another large turnout, as over 100 local contractors plus wholesale and distributor representatives participated in each of the previous outings. Because of the local support, enough money was raised to award six $1,000 student scholarships in 2005 and seven $1,000 scholarships in 2006.

In addition to participants, organizers are looking for donations, which are tax deductible.

“We are looking for businesses to donate gift cards, merchandise, logoed merchandise [shirts, hats, jackets, etc.] or monetary donations from their establishments for our event,” noted Lauer. “The merchandise will be used as door prizes. All monetary donations go directly into the scholarships.”

To register for, or contribute to, the 2008 golf outing, call 717-792-8854. In this case, it’s OK to embarrass oneself on the golf course for one day, Sept. 24.